Engines of play: how player motivation changes over time

Abstract

The talk is a first (probably doomed and certainly biased) attempt by the speaker to fuse his work-to-date on the 5 Domains of Play (a gamer-translation of the Big 5 psychological model) with Scott Rigby & co.'s PENS model (a gamer-translation of Self- Determination Theory). While trying to form this Player Motivational Voltron, we may touch briefly on how a few other existing models might also be compatible this horrid abomination, but the focus of this talk will be squarely on PENS and the 5 Domains. The goal is to describe a map of player motivations that not only talks about player typologies and satisfactions, but that can also describe how player motivations change as they move from first-contact, engagement, and on into nostalgia. It will probably never work. But the attempt should at least be entertaining to watch.